When I first started my photography business 4 years ago I was always very anxious when it came to family outdoor photo sessions. Here is a list of worries that went through my head:

the weather would be bad

the family wouldn’t be able to find the location

the children wouldn’t like me

worse, the parents wouldn’t like me

conversation wouldn’t flow

the children wouldn’t stay still in front of the camera

the family wouldn’t feel comfortable posing

the lighting would be bad and my images would be blurred

I wouldn’t get a photo of the children smiling

The family would think I weren’t worth what I was charging

I am often an over-thinker, you can probably tell from the list above! My family sessions never ever went as badly as I expected them to. After a few I started to realise I was stressing myself trying to make every session go the way I thought it should. I thought I should have a list of poses and portraits I should attain every session. However every family is different. Every family have their own personalities, every child have their own interests and their own way of sparkling. Every family connect in different ways, some families love cuddling up together during their session, others find this uncomfortable and forced.

As time has gone on I have become more relaxed in my approach to family sessions. Taking away the worries of what the session should look like and just going with the flow and instead of trying to capture certain ‘poses’, I instead focused on the emotions and connection of the family I was photographing.

Outdoors in nature is my favourite place to hold family sessions. It allows the children to roam free and explore making for portraits that evoke a memory and an emotion. The fresh air and the walk does soo much good for the soul too. Children will often get bored very quickly on a studio session, feeling enclosed and put on the spot. Outdoors they can have fun, be free and their personalities always shine.

Photographing families walking through woodlands, children finding pinecones and enjoying everything nature has to offer. These sessions quickly became my favourite and probably the images I am most proud of. Your portraits should cause an emotion to rise in you when you look at them. Joy, nostalgia, love.

If you would like to capture your family in this way feel free to contact me <<HERE>>

Here are a few of my favourite images from an outdoor session I held earlier in the year with this lovely family of four.